To the PLAINS Indians it was more about survival... Not like us where its "fun" Ive seen arrow heads in all shapes and sizes. from 1/2" to 2" and anywhere in between.
Arrowheads...They used what they had at hand... and it was not always the same, especially for nomadic tribes. Flint was the most readily available so you see more of those heads, but as was stated obsidian when it could be had was used too.
If I were going to make one today I would use flint obsidian or glass (the bottom of a glass coke bottle works well) and knapping aint hard its just takes time and practice.
Shafts... As for shafts and draw length they used what they could find.. There arrows were cut but not so much as to a certain length but as to make it as straight as possible. Given they only had what nature gave them. Arrow shafts were made out of shoots, such as dogwood, wild rose, ash, birch, chokecherry, and black locust. And were shaved, sanded, or heat and pressure straightened.
Bows... The intended use of the system, on foot or horse back, for instance, affects the final design. Bows used while mounted on horseback tend to be shorter than the bows used when on foot. Since the length of the bow determines the stress placed on the bow when drawn, shorter bows tend to be made of composite materials while bows used when on foot can be made of wood.
Again they had to be resourceful and had to carry these bows in earlier times on foot for long distances so they werent too heavy or too long. Several species of plants and some animal materials met these requirements. Ash, hickory, locust, Osage orange, cedar, juniper, oak, walnut, birch, choke cherry, serviceberry, and mulberry woods were used (all bend and not break). Elk antler, mountain sheep horn, bison horn, and ribs, and caribou antler also were used where available to make composite bows. Strings were made of sinew,gut, or rawhide, occasionally, plant fibers, such as inner bark of basswood, slippery elm or cherry trees, and yucca were used. Nettles, milkweed, and dogbane are also suitable fibers.
The height and strength of the archer determines the ideal draw weight of the bow. A combination of the length of draw and the draw weight of the bow determines the cast (propelling force or fps what we used to day) of the bow. Adjusting either or both of these features allows the arrowhead to be made larger or smaller as needed.
The draw weight of the bow also determines the ideal weight and diameter of the arrow shaft. Even a bow with a high draw weight can only throw an arrow so far. If the arrow is too heavy, it will not fly far or fast enough to be very useful. A shaft that is too thick or too thin will also lead to problems. It must compress enough to bend around the bow as it is launched by the string. If it does not bend, the arrow flies to the side of the target. If it bends too much, it will wobble (reducing the striking force) or even shatter.
The length of the draw, also determined by the body of the archer, determines the length of the arrow. The maximum effectiveness of the bow determines the maximum weight of the point. This is how we know that certain "arrowheads" can not really have been used on an arrow, at least not to any good effect. A general rule of thumb is that a stone arrowhead will be less than 1 1/2-x-3/4-inch in dimensions and will generally weigh less than one ounce. Larger "arrowheads" probably would have been spear, dart, or knife tips.
But as an Archer/Hunter you should know all of ^^^ that. Most bows were in the 30-50 lb mark. and draw length was in the 20 to 25 in mark, like I said based on the hunter/archer.
As for one shot one kill... Nope not often. Indians hunted in packs and shot their pray many many times to get it to go down. So a complete pass trhough wasnt necessary. They would shoot, track, shoot track... or often they would coral prey towards other shooters.. much like our pheasant hunts! Hunting most often involved driving the game down a cliff or into a corral or encircling it by fire.
Then the white man showed up ad it all changed!!!!
White man (spanish) brought the horse and with the horse came a new way to pack and hunt. Bows became shorter and it was easier to run down animals and try to dispatch with one shot. because the bows were carried by horse they could be heavier too which means now they were pulling more poundage! Bows were built for the archer to their specs some pulling 40-50lbs but the draw length stayed about the same 20 -25inces on average.
Then came the disaster of modern medicine and modern firepower for the indians ... and now they run casinos... the End.
Arrowheads...They used what they had at hand... and it was not always the same, especially for nomadic tribes. Flint was the most readily available so you see more of those heads, but as was stated obsidian when it could be had was used too.
If I were going to make one today I would use flint obsidian or glass (the bottom of a glass coke bottle works well) and knapping aint hard its just takes time and practice.
Shafts... As for shafts and draw length they used what they could find.. There arrows were cut but not so much as to a certain length but as to make it as straight as possible. Given they only had what nature gave them. Arrow shafts were made out of shoots, such as dogwood, wild rose, ash, birch, chokecherry, and black locust. And were shaved, sanded, or heat and pressure straightened.
Bows... The intended use of the system, on foot or horse back, for instance, affects the final design. Bows used while mounted on horseback tend to be shorter than the bows used when on foot. Since the length of the bow determines the stress placed on the bow when drawn, shorter bows tend to be made of composite materials while bows used when on foot can be made of wood.
Again they had to be resourceful and had to carry these bows in earlier times on foot for long distances so they werent too heavy or too long. Several species of plants and some animal materials met these requirements. Ash, hickory, locust, Osage orange, cedar, juniper, oak, walnut, birch, choke cherry, serviceberry, and mulberry woods were used (all bend and not break). Elk antler, mountain sheep horn, bison horn, and ribs, and caribou antler also were used where available to make composite bows. Strings were made of sinew,gut, or rawhide, occasionally, plant fibers, such as inner bark of basswood, slippery elm or cherry trees, and yucca were used. Nettles, milkweed, and dogbane are also suitable fibers.
The height and strength of the archer determines the ideal draw weight of the bow. A combination of the length of draw and the draw weight of the bow determines the cast (propelling force or fps what we used to day) of the bow. Adjusting either or both of these features allows the arrowhead to be made larger or smaller as needed.
The draw weight of the bow also determines the ideal weight and diameter of the arrow shaft. Even a bow with a high draw weight can only throw an arrow so far. If the arrow is too heavy, it will not fly far or fast enough to be very useful. A shaft that is too thick or too thin will also lead to problems. It must compress enough to bend around the bow as it is launched by the string. If it does not bend, the arrow flies to the side of the target. If it bends too much, it will wobble (reducing the striking force) or even shatter.
The length of the draw, also determined by the body of the archer, determines the length of the arrow. The maximum effectiveness of the bow determines the maximum weight of the point. This is how we know that certain "arrowheads" can not really have been used on an arrow, at least not to any good effect. A general rule of thumb is that a stone arrowhead will be less than 1 1/2-x-3/4-inch in dimensions and will generally weigh less than one ounce. Larger "arrowheads" probably would have been spear, dart, or knife tips.
But as an Archer/Hunter you should know all of ^^^ that. Most bows were in the 30-50 lb mark. and draw length was in the 20 to 25 in mark, like I said based on the hunter/archer.
As for one shot one kill... Nope not often. Indians hunted in packs and shot their pray many many times to get it to go down. So a complete pass trhough wasnt necessary. They would shoot, track, shoot track... or often they would coral prey towards other shooters.. much like our pheasant hunts! Hunting most often involved driving the game down a cliff or into a corral or encircling it by fire.
Then the white man showed up ad it all changed!!!!
White man (spanish) brought the horse and with the horse came a new way to pack and hunt. Bows became shorter and it was easier to run down animals and try to dispatch with one shot. because the bows were carried by horse they could be heavier too which means now they were pulling more poundage! Bows were built for the archer to their specs some pulling 40-50lbs but the draw length stayed about the same 20 -25inces on average.
Then came the disaster of modern medicine and modern firepower for the indians ... and now they run casinos... the End.
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